The Italian tactician is understood to have told the Spain international: ‘Hi Diego, I hope you are well. Thanks for the seasono [sic] we spent together. Good luck for the next year but you are not in my plan.’

Conte’s decision was made despite Costa being involved in 27 Premier League goals on the way to the title last season. It’s understood the Chelsea manager believes Costa’s attitude and behaviour are an issue he no longer wants to deal with.

Diego Costa seemingly has no future at Chelsea (Getty)

But the way he informed Costa was wrong according to Manchester United legend Cantona.

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‘Angry texting, it’s not a good idea and breaking up with a text it’s even worse,’ the Frenchman told Eurosport, likening it to a relationship break-up.

‘Mix the two together and you have Antonio Conte’s now infamous: “Good luck for next year but you are not part of my plan.”

‘Every single letter of that sentence addressed to Diego Costa may cost Chelsea about a million euro. Don’t run a team with your thumbs!’

How the situation is resolved with Costa remains to be seen. The striker is understood to only be interested in joining Atletico Madrid, yet they are unable to sign any players this summer due to a transfer ban.

Due to Conte’s text becoming public knowledge, interested clubs will be aware of his desire to offload Costa and will be able to lower their bids accordingly. If each word of the text did indeed cost Chelsea a million euros, as Cantona suggests, then they could expect to lose out on €27million (£23.6m).